Biscayne National Park

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Biscayne National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Sunset at Biscayne National Park
Location	Miami-Dade County, Florida
Nearest city	MiamiNearest city: Miami
Coordinates	25°39′0″N 80°5′0″W / 25.65°N 80.083333°W / 25.65; -80.083333Coordinates: 25°39′0″N 80°5′0″W / 25.65°N 80.083333°W / 25.65; -80.083333
Area	172,971 acres (699.99 km²)
Established	June 28, 1980 Established: June 28, 1980
Visitors	517,442 (in 2007)
Governing body	National Park Service

Park boundaries shown on satellite image

Biscayne National Park is a U.S. National Park located in southern Florida, due east of Homestead. The park preserves Biscayne Bay, one of the top scuba diving areas in the United States. Ninety-five percent of the park is water. In addition, the shore of the bay is the location of an extensive mangrove forest. The park covers 207 mi² (700 km²).

Elliott Key, the park's largest island, is considered the first of the true Florida Keys being formed from fossilized coral reef, i.e. Key Largo limestone. The islands farther north in the park are transitional islands of coral and sand.

1 Attractions
- 1.1 Things to Do
2 Invasive species
3 Gallery
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Attractions

The major attraction of the park is scuba diving or snorkeling on the coral reef inside the bay. It is also possible to take a glass-bottom boat tour of the bay, or rent kayaks to explore the bay and the islands (Florida Keys) in it. While accessing the historic homes of Stiltsville is currently not allowed by casual visitors, these structures may still be observed from boats.

[edit] Things to Do

Dante Fascell Visitor Center^[1]
Ranger-conducted Activities
Fishing/Boating
Canoeing/Kayaking
Boat Tours
Camping

[edit] Invasive species

The national park has confirmed the presence of the lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) within the park. Park divers were able to capture one recently. The lionfish is a tropical species from the Indian-Pacific Ocean area. It is known for its voracious appetite and its ability to establish itself in new waters, rapidly replacing other species. It is believed that the introduction of this species occurred during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Sightings in Biscayne Bay at that time, traced the fish back to home aquariums that were destroyed during the Hurricane.^[2]

[edit] Gallery

Most of the park is water

The ornamental lighthouse at Boca Chita Key

[edit] References

^ National Parks of South Florida, Trip Planner; National Park Service; 2006-07
^ Venomous Lionfish Captured In Park; Susan Gonshor, Chief Park Interpreter, Press Release; July 10, 2009

[edit] External links

Biscayne National Park (official website)
Florida Keys Tourism Board

Protected Areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne National Park • Dry Tortugas National Park • Everglades National Park

National Monuments and Memorials	Castillo de San Marcos National Monument • Fort Matanzas National Monument • De Soto National Memorial • Fort Caroline National Memorial

National Forests	Apalachicola • Choctawhatchee • Ocala • Osceola

National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr • Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee • Caloosahatchee • Cedar Keys • Chassahowitzka • Crocodile Lake • Crystal River • Egmont Key • Florida Panther • Great White Heron • Hobe Sound • Island Bay • J.N. 'Ding' Darling • Key West • Lake Wales Ridge • Lake Woodruff • Lower Suwannee • Matlacha Pass • Merritt Island • National Key Deer • Okefenokee • Passage Key • Pelican Island • Pine Island • Pinellas • St. Johns • St. Marks • St. Vincent • Ten Thousand Islands

Other National Protected Areas	Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary • Big Cypress National Preserve • Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve • Canaveral National Seashore • Gulf Islands National Seashore • Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve • Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve • Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

State

Parks	Amelia Island • Anastasia • Avalon • Bahia Honda • Bald Point • Big Lagoon • Big Talbot Island • Bill Baggs Cape Florida • Bulow Creek • Caladesi Island • Camp Helen • Cayo Costa • Collier-Seminole • Curry Hammock • Delnor-Wiggins Pass • Devil's Millhopper • Don Pedro Island • Eden Gardens • Egmont Key • Falling Waters • Faver-Dykes • Florida Caverns • Fort Clinch • Fort Cooper • Fort George Island • Fort Pierce Inlet • Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou • Gasparilla Island • George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier • Highlands Hammock • Hontoon Island • Hugh Taylor Birch • John D. MacArthur Beach • John Pennekamp Coral Reef • John U. Lloyd Beach • Jonathan Dickinson • Little Talbot Island • Long Key • Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson • Mike Roess Gold Head Branch • Navarre Beach • North Peninsula • O'Leno • Oscar Scherer • Ravine Gardens • River Bluff Picnic Site • Sebastian Inlet • Skyway Fishing Pier • St. George Island • St. Joseph Peninsula • Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center • Stump Pass Beach • Tomoka • Torreya • Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens • Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock • Lignumvitae Key • Washington Oaks State Gardens

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake • Lake Griffin • Lake June in Winter Scrub • Lake Kissimmee • Lake Louisa • Lake Manatee • Lake Talquin • Alafia River • Blackwater River • Econfina River • Guana River • Hillsborough River • Little Manatee River • Myakka River • Ochlockonee River • Silver River • Suwannee River • Blue Spring • De Leon Springs • Edward Ball Wakulla Springs • Fanning Springs • Homosassa Springs Wildlife • Ichetucknee Springs • Lafayette Blue Springs • Madison Blue Springs • Manatee Springs • Peacock Springs • Rainbow Springs • Troy Springs • Weeki Wachee Springs • Wekiwa Springs • Werner-Boyce Salt Springs

Recreation Areas	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek • Dead Lakes • Dunns Creek • Gamble Rogers Memorial • Grayton Beach • Henderson Beach • Honeymoon Island • Oleta River • Perdido Key • Ponce de Leon Springs • St. Andrews • Three Rivers

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum • Constitution Convention Museum • Forest Capital Museum • John Gorrie State Museum • Ybor City Museum • The Barnacle • Bulow Plantation Ruins • Dade Battlefield • DeSoto Site • Dudley Farm • Fort Foster • Fort Mose • Fort Zachary Taylor • Gamble Plantation • Indian Key • Koreshan • Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead • Natural Bridge Battlefield • Olustee Battlefield • Orman House • Paynes Creek • San Marcos de Apalache • Yellow Bluff Fort • Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins • Crystal River • Lake Jackson Mounds • Letchworth Mounds • Madira Bickel Mound • Mound Key • San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Anclote Key • Cedar Key Scrub • Charlotte Harbor • Crystal River • Estero Bay • Fakahatchee Strand • Grassy Lake • Hal Scott • Kissimmee Prairie • Lower Wekiva River • Paynes Prairie • Pumpkin Hill Creek • River Rise • Rock Springs Run • San Felasco Hammock • Savannas • Seabranch • St. Lucie Inlet • St. Sebastian River • Tarkiln Bayou • Topsail Hill • Tosohatchee • Waccasassa Bay • Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Gainesville-Hawthorne • General James A. Van Fleet • Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail • Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore • Big Shoals Public Lands • Blackwater River • Carl Duval Moore • Cary • Cottage Hill • Deep Creek • Etoniah Creek • Four Creeks • Goethe • Holopaw • Indian Lake • Jennings • John Bethea • Lake George • Lake Talquin • Lake Wales Ridge • Little-Big Econ • Matanzas • Myakka • Okaloacoochee Slough • Picayune Strand • Pine Log • Point Washington • Ralph E. Simmons Memorial • Ross Prairie • Seminole • Tate's Hell • Tiger Bay • Twin Rivers • Wakulla • Watson Island • Welaka • Withlacoochee

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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